With the Might of Angels

September 1, 2011

Coretta Scott King Award–winner Pinkney provides an outstanding contribution to the Dear America series with the diary of the (fictional) first African-American student to integrate the segregated schools of Hadley, Va.

Pinkney paints a vivid picture of a bright 12-year-old who is athletic, fun-loving and full of dreams. She admires Jackie Robinson and is fiercely protective of her autistic younger brother. Shortly after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is handed down, Dawnie Rae is selected as one of three African-American children who will integrate the Prettyman Coburn school. True to the series' format, the fictional diary entries, chronicle the both events of the primary story arc and fill in telling details of the time and place. Today's readers may well be stunned when Dawnie Rae's Mama and Daddy bluntly tell her the family doesn't have enough money to buy a television, and she goes on to muse about the buying power of the 1954 nickel. While many contemporary accounts of the Civil Rights movement focus on the courage, integrity and character of those who pioneered the struggle, Pinkney does a commendable job imagining both the setting and the inner emotions that ordinary children might have wrestled with as they stepped into history.

A solid entry in an ever-popular series. (historical note, photographs, biographical notes, time line) (Historical fiction. 8-14)

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September 1, 2011

Gr 5-8-In 1954, Dawnie Rae Johnson receives a diary for her 12th birthday. In it, she chronicles the year of her mundane-no-more life. As one of the brightest African-American students at Mary McLeod Bethune School, she is chosen to integrate the previously all-white Prettyman Coburn public school. She is the lone black student, and she is cursed, spit upon, reviled, ignored, and harassed. Dawnie learns to "lock her lips" through all the racism she experiences, leaning on her family, her church, and her community for support. She also plays baseball and writes imaginary letters to Jackie Robinson, asking him what it was and is like to be the first African American in the major leagues. Dawnie finally makes a friend when a Jewish student, equally reviled, moves from New York City to Hadley. The two support each other, becoming two of the best students at Prettyman. Dawnie's journal is realistic, encompassing thoughts and emotions one would expect of someone so stressed. She is protective of her autistic brother and encouraging when her father is dismissed from his dairy job for racial reasons and her mother becomes the sole breadwinner. The author seamlessly incorporates historical events into the child's journal. The end matter contains age-appropriate photographs, a time line, and brief biographical sketches of the people mentioned. A first purchase.-Lisa Crandall, formerly at Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011
Grades 5-8 In this Dear America title, set shortly after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, 12-year-old Dawnie Rae Johnson is a gifted student and talented baseball playerand becomes the first black student to integrate Prettyman Coburn school. There, Dawnie is alternately taunted, ignored, or ridiculed (even by the staff), incidents that test her faith and resolve. There are also difficulties at home: when her father's employer endorses segregation, he quits, leaving her laundress mother sole moneymaker. Despite all of this, Dawnie, increasingly supported by family and a new friend, Gertie, who is Jewish, experiences moments of hope, showing to readers how equality and justice are an ongoing endeavor. Dawnie is a wonderfully drawn character whose lively and poignant diary entriesincluding letters to her hero, Jackie Robinsondetail her dreams, fears, frustrations, and achievements, personalizing segregation's and integration's diverse impacts. Back matter provides historical background, information on real-life events and people mentioned throughout, photos, and a time line, while Pinkney relates her own experiences in an author's note.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)